TECHNOLOGY AND TUTORIALS

Instagram now shows when users are online, last active status Instagram will now start showing users when their friends are online or were last active on the network in the Direct Messages option. Here's how it will work and how to turn off the feature in settings. Instagram will now start showing users when their friends are online or were last active on the network in the Direct Messages option. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger also have a similar online/last seen feature and it looks like Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook, is now the latest to get this.  However, users will have the option of turning off the feature in Settings as well. To be clear, not all your followers will be able to see as soon as you are online on Instagram. But friends and followers with whom you have exchanged Direct Messages, they will be able see your active status and vice-versa. If you are active on Instagram at a particular moment, then these friends with whom yo...

WhatsApp Business App Launched for Small Businesses, Available for Free Facebook on Wednesday announced the launch of the WhatsApp Business app for small businesses. A part of its WhatsApp for Business initiative that was first officially announced back in September last year and tested with businesses like BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip in India since, the new app for SMEs is now  available to download  via Google Play in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the UK, and the US. The app is free, and will be rolled out across the world in the coming weeks, which is when it can be expected in India. The firm will also eventually have a version for Apple's iPhone platform. The WhatsApp Business app is aimed at making it easier to for small companies to connect with their customers, and more convenient for the 1.3 billion WhatsApp users to chat with businesses that matter to them. The app will help customers with useful information such as a business description, email or st...

Facebook appears to be running a trial that features its  subsidiary   WhatsApp  a lot more prominently in the main app. Users are reporting seeing a dedicated WhatsApp button in the main Facebook app on  Android . When clicked, the button acts like a shortcut, opening WhatsApp without the need to leave the Facebook app. TNW has since obtained images of the feature. Here is how it looks: In case you were wondering, the dedicated button can be found in the menu area. If you happen to be one of the users in the control group, it should appear at the top, right under your name. But chances are not everyone will be able to see it yet. The shortcut is currently being tested on the Android version of the app, but it could very well be available to some  iOS  users too. According to Arvind Iyer, who tipped us off to this development, the WhatsApp button showed up after he switched Facebook’s language setting to Danish. This is not all that surprising gi...

Facebook tests snooze button that lets users temporarily unfollow friends Do you get tired of friends who constantly post annoying  Facebook  content? Even the most patient of us can get irritated by yet another photo of someone's lunch or children, the hundredth inspirational quote, or those regular gym visit updates. Unfriending is a bit excessive, so permanently unfollowing them tends to be the only other option. But Facebook could soon give users another choice: temporary muting. The Snooze button, as the social network is calling it, is currently being tested by the site. The new feature, which is accessible via a post’s drop-down menu, essentially lets you unfollow friends, Pages, or Groups for a set amount of time, either 24 hours, seven days, or 30 days. "We're testing new ways to give people control over their News Feeds so they can stay connected with the stories they find most relevant," a spokesperson told TechCrunch . Exactly how many peop...

Facebook Flaw Said to Allow Users to Get Millions of Fake Likes A security loophole on  Facebook  has allowed about a million accounts - real and fake - to generate at least 100 million "likes" and comments to manipulate online social reputation. The researchers, from the University of Iowa in the US and Lahore University of Management Science in Pakistan, found sites that operate 'collusion networks', which rapidly generate likes for free. Facebook posts that receive a lot of likes are more likely to be placed higher in other people's feeds. This means that users with fake likes can ultimately generate significantly more attention and influence. In order to participate, users have to grant the networks wide-ranging access to their accounts, so that those accounts can be harnessed to like others, researchers said. They tracked the collusion networks in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election, but could not say whether the networks were u...